Washington, D.C
34 Things to Do in the DC Area This Week and Weekend
The Annual Lunar New Year Parade. Courtesy of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association.
Happy Monday, DC!
Take a pause from your new year diet plan to indulge in Winter Restaurant Week specials. Also, there’s a ton of Lunar New Year celebrations happening around town, and a new LEGO exhibition all ages can enjoy.
Best Things to Do This Week and Weekend
January 27–February 2
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- Metropolitan Washington Winter Restaurant Week. Here’s a good way to add some variety to this week’s meal plan: Winter Restaurant Week is back. Dine at more than 350 local eateries, restaurants, and bars for lunch, brunch, and dinner at a discount price. Some new participating restaurants to check out include Adams Morgan’s Tail Up Goat, American restaurant A. Kitchen + Bar, and Arrels inside the recently opened Arlo Washington DC hotel (Mon-Sun, prices vary, multiple DC-area locations).
- DC Chinese Lunar New Year Parade. The Year of the Snake festivities continue around town this week with one of DC’s biggest seasonal events. The Chinese Lunar New Year Parade will strut through Chinatown to spotlight cultural and community performers, treats from local eateries, and a finale firecracker show in the heart of H Street (Sun, free, Downtown).
- “The Art of the Brick” exhibit. View colorful and intricate LEGO sculptures at The Art of the Brick Washington DC. The traveling exhibition at the Rhode Island Center showcases 130 LEGO-crafted creations that reimagine masterpieces like Michelangelo’s “David,” Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” and Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” For families, there’s a creation zone where youngsters can build their own piece (opens January 30, $25, Brentwood).
- Job play. Signature Theatre presents the DC premiere of Max Wolf Friedlich’s psychological thriller Job. The shocking play follows a woman’s downward spiral with a therapist after her workplace meltdown goes viral (Tues through March 16, $40+, Arlington).
- Lunar New Year Family Celebration. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is throwing a Lunar New Year jamboree featuring six live performances and traditional Chinese and Korean art demonstrations. The entire family can see musical and dance productions from groups like Washington CYC Lion Dance Team, K-Pop dance clubs from American University and George Washington University, and a Simba Dojang martial arts demo (Sat, free, registration encouraged).
- Song of the North at Strathmore. Multimedia artist Hamid Rahmanian creates a moving stage adaptation of an 11th-century Persian epic poem. The ancient tale of a knight who falls in love with an enemy princess comes to life with a cast that includes nine performers and nearly 500 puppets (Fri, $28+, Bethesda).
Want More Things to Do?
Arts and culture:
- Cozy up with hot cocoa and marshmallows, and then join a guided paint session at Palette 22 (Mon, $65, Arlington).
- Model and actress Brooke Shields dives into her new memoir with Dr. Sharon Malone at Sixth & I (Mon, $12+ for virtual, $50 for ticket and book, Penn Quarter, virtual).
- Award-winning author Ruth Franklin discusses her new innovative biography about the The Many Lives of Anne Frank (Wed, free, Northwest DC).
- Filmmaker Kristen Lovell and photographer Samantha Box discuss the combination of photography and advocacy at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Wed, $25, Downtown).
- Browse new cars at The Washington, DC Auto Show (Fri through February 9, $15+, Walter E. Washington Convention Center).
- Coauthors Tre’vell Anderson and Jarrett Hill of the book Historically Black Phrases host a hilarious game show at MLK Memorial Library (Sat, free with registration, MLK Library).
Community and heritage:
- Feast on fortune cookies while watching a performance from Hung Ci Lion Dance Troupe (Tues, free, Rosslyn).
- There’s family fun, food, and dance at Eden Center’s Tet celebration (Wed, free, Falls Church).
- Watch a fashion and an array of traditional Asian dance performances at Tysons Corner Center (Sat, free, Tysons).
- Take a free yoga class, and then munch on Lunar New Year happy hour specials at Upside on Moore (Sat, free, Rosslyn).
- Walk in the footsteps of the father of Black history Carter G. Woodson through Logan Circle and Shaw with actor Darius Wallace (Sat, free, registration required, Logan Circle).
Theater and shows:
- National Ballet of China presents a two-act dance performance to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker score (Wed-Sun, $30+, Kennedy Center).
- Sit in on Shakespeare-themed staged readings, panel discussions, and workshops at The Reading Room Festival (Thurs-Sun, $150 for pass, Capitol Hill).
- Rising star comic Jack Tucker does standup at the Kennedy Center (Thurs, $20+, Kennedy Center).
- Opera conductor Gianandrea Noseda brings Samuel Barber’s passionate production Vanessa to life in concert (Thurs, Sat, $15+, Kennedy Center).
- Broadway Center Stage: Schmigadoon! musical follows the story of two doctors on a road trip to save their failing relationship (Fri through February 9, $59+, Kennedy Center).
- The Come From Away musical tells the true story of airplane passengers stranded on Newfoundland after the 9/11 attacks (Fri-Sun, $63+, Tysons).
Music and concerts:
- Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performs the world premiere of Elevators (Tues, $14+, Bethesda).
- The Anderson Brothers play a jazzy concert packed with Duke Ellington hits (Wed, free, tickets available onsite first-come first-serve, Kennedy Center).
- British musical trio Jamie xx plays live at the Anthem (Thurs, $50+, Wharf).
- Tickets are selling fast to see Iranian pop vocalist Marjan Farsad at Miracle Theatre (Thurs, $45, Eastern Market).
- Violinist Paul Huang performs symphonic tunes at Takoma Park SDA Church (Sat, $35+, Takoma Park).
- Commemorate Black History Month at the annual MLK tribute concert Living the Dream … Singing the Dream (Sun, $28+, Kennedy Center).
Bites and beverages:
- Dine on ceviche, chicken dumplings, raw oysters, and other Lunar New Year specials in between glimpses of a ceremonial lion dance at Tiger Fork (Sat, free entry, food extra, Shaw).
Things to do with kids:
- Go ice skating with the family at Water Park’s Winter Wonderland (through February 21, $35, Arlington).
- Kiddos can meet live animals, make Lunar New Year crafts, and hike at Long Branch Nature Center (Sat, $9, Arlington).
- Families can participate in a scavenger hunt, make lanterns, and color zodiac animals at the Smithsonian (Sat, free, registration required, Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art).
- There’s martial arts, crafts, music, and more Year of the Snake fun at Falls Church Communikids (Sat-Sun, free, but rsvp required, Falls Church).
If you enjoyed these events, please don’t forget to share this post with a friend on social media, and sign up for our newsletter for more things to do.
WASHINGTON (7News) — The Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Robert McElroy, on Wednesday removed a well-known priest as an exorcist of the archdiocese after he made public comments suggesting that UFO sightings were the work of demons.
McElroy said the archdiocese also was cutting ties with the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal, a Washington-based nonprofit headed by the priest, Monsignor Stephen Rossetti.
The archbishop said Rossetti’s statements “linking UFOs to demonic presence and the Center’s recent use of social media gravely undermine the Church’s very precise teaching on the devil, demons and exorcism.”
“There’s a danger here,” Rossetti said in a May 29 video posted on his Facebook page addressing UFO sightings and the existence of aliens. “As an exorcist I wanted to raise that danger. And that is that demons like to hide. … They don’t want us to know what they’re doing because they’re more effective when we don’t realize it.”
“They can kind of get into your head, you know, and manipulate things in the world to influence us to do evil.”
“It’s my personal belief that probably many if not most of these UFO sightings are in fact demons,” Rossetti added.
Rossetti also said that people can be good Catholics and believe there’s life on other planets, though he does not personally believe life exists elsewhere.
In a statement posted on the St. Michael Center website, Rossetti said he was saddened by the action of the archdiocese.
“I ask forgiveness for any ways that I have not been faithful to the teachings of the Church’s Magisterium, particularly in the cited video on ‘aliens and the demonic,’” he said. “I believe it is of the utmost importance to be obedient to the Church and I will continue to endeavor to subject all that I do and the Center to be thus obedient.”
Rossetti, who has over 148,000 followers on Instagram, is a prominent psychologist as well as an exorcist. His center has specialized in offering spiritual healing for priests troubled by various difficulties.
In 2023, he told The Associated Press there was increasing and renewed appetite for information about demonic possession and exorcism.
Washington, D.C
Nurses at Washington D.C.’s largest hospital call on leadership to reverse planned cuts to maternal health
RNs at MedStar Washington Hospital Center say closure of postpartum unit will disproportionately harm marginalized and underserved communities
Union nurses at MedStar Washington Hospital Center (MWHC) in Washington, D.C. are demanding that management stop the planned closure of an entire postpartum unit, announced National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU). The hospital notified the union on May 26, 2026 of its intention to eliminate 11 maternal health beds and displace eight nurses by July 26, 2026, leaving MWHC with one postpartum unit.
In a follow-up town hall with staff nurses, Chief Nursing Officer Ariam Yitbarek confirmed the closure. Other leaders have additionally informed staff that the hospital will strictly limit scheduled C-sections and inductions for patients from numerous D.C. maternal health organizations. The list of organizations includes many that primarily serve low-income patients, immigrants, and patients of color, all communities with significantly higher risks of maternal mortality. Additionally, staff were informed that Kaiser Permanente, which notably insures a large number of DC city employees and even many of MWHC’s own workers, will see a strict limit on scheduling inductions and C-sections for their patients as well.
“Closing postpartum unit 5F will gravely impact those most affected by health disparities,” said Stephanie Sims-Coates, RN in the neonatal intensive care unit. “Our low-income families and families of color will be most affected by this closure. Families trust the medical staff at MWHC and plan to come to us for their care. In a city where Black women make up 90 percent of pregnancy-related deaths despite being only half the population, the hospital’s decision to close this unit is a significant mistake.”
Community leaders and healthcare workers are joining the call for MedStar to put patients before profits and keep the unit open. This past weekend, nurses met with D.C. mayoral candidate and Ward 4 councilwoman Janeese Lewis George about the planned closure and the impact it would have on DC’s most vulnerable residents.
“Maternal mortality is a crisis for Washington, DC, and our healthcare system needs to address the crisis immediately, rather than exacerbate the challenges that birthing parents face,” said Councilwoman Janeese Lewis George. “Now is the time to invest in health care, rather than make cuts. I want to work with the hospital to identify solutions that work for patients and the provider.”
“In my time at Washington Hospital Center, I’ve seen the hospital tout its Safe Moms, Safe Babies program and host a community baby shower specifically designed to call attention to the maternal mortality crisis,” said Marcqueata “Tiya” Butler, RN in the Mother/Baby unit. “Their current plan to shut down 11 postpartum beds betrays the hospital’s stated commitments. They are aware of persistent inequities in access to care. We are calling on the hospital to consider the impacts on the community, safeguard the mothers and infants of DC and commit to addressing the maternal mortality rate.”
In 2024, MedStar Health, a registered non-profit, reported $9 billion in operating revenue.
NNOC/NNU represents more than 2,200 registered nurses at Washington Hospital Center.
National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with more than 225,000 members nationwide. NNU affiliates include California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, DC Nurses Association, Michigan Nurses Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, and New York State Nurses Association.
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